New Gensokyo Railway Series 4 (Akira the Spirited JR Western Engine)
by Pergold
Summary: A new branchline is opened up on the Gensokyo Railway and Ahiru is sent to work on it. But now the railway is in need of a new engine, but one is found when Nitori and Yukari go finding raw materials in the outside world. This is that engine's story.
1. A Letter From the Author

Dear Friends,

The new branchline is complete. This new line connects Kourindou to Mayohiga. This new bunch of stories is about the engines of this branchline. There's even one about an engine that Yukari and Nitori found whilst looking for some materials to take back.

There also some mean rolling stock imported from Sodor, they say rude things at the engines on the new branchline, but I won't say much about that.

I hope that you find these next few stories interesting. It was fun recording some of these things down with my friend, the Fat Shrine Maiden. Even though we would sometimes leave no one in charge of the shrine and the shrinegoers would yell at us for watching the trains and not the shrine.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next four stories that I have written.

Sincerely, The Author


	2. Hachirou's Duck

Ahiru is a JR Western tank engine who lives on the Gensokyo Railway. He works hard in the yard at the big station at the Human Village. Sometimes he pulls coaches, sometimes he pulls goods trains, and he shunts in between. Whatever the work, Ahiru finishes his work without fuss.

One day, he was at the sheds when the Scarlet Controller arrived.

"I'm proud of your work on the railway." she said.

"Thank you, sir." replied Ahiru.

"Anyway, the new connection between Kourindou and Mayohiga has been finished and I want you to run it."

"Oh, thank you sir!"

Ahiru soon took charge of his new branchline. The responsibility delighted him. The line connected the market of Kourindou to Mayohiga, the revived village. All the while, cutting through part of the Forest of Magic and past fields of sunflowers. Ahiru loved coasting down the line as the fresh country air swirled his smoke up high as his green paint glistened in the sun.

"This is like being off the grid." said Ahiru.

"Sometimes, a change is as good as a rest." replied his driver.

Soon, Ahiru was busier than ever. There was a new station being built along the line. Various other engines came to help build, construction progressed easily.

"The new station is almost done." said Kiyoshi.

"And on time too." replied Ahiru.

That night, Ahiru was in the shed next to Hachirou. Ahiru felt his responsibility deeply.

"You don't know how much the Scarlet Controller depends on me to run my branchline." he said.

Hachirou rolled his eyes sleepily.

"I'm JR Western and-"

"Quack, quack!" said Hachirou

"What?"

"You heard me? Quack! Quack! You go, you sound like you laid an egg. Now stop talking and let an engine sleep."

"Quack yourself!" said Ahiru, indignantly.

The next morning, Ahiru told his crew about last night.

"Hachirou? Said you laid an egg?" said his driver, "We'll show him."

And the two kappas made a plan. That night, while Hachirou was sleeping, they put something in his tender. They giggled and almost woke him up.

The next morning, as Hachirou's firewoman loaded him up on water. She heard a noise come from the tender.

"Hey! Check this out! There's something in the water!" said the firewoman.

"What do you mean there's something in the water?" asked the driver, climbing onto the tender.

"What's in my tender?" asked Hachirou.

Hachirou soon found his answer, as his crew pulled out a small duckling from out of his tender. The duckling was tame and stayed with the crew. The driver shared her lunch with the duckling and the duckling rode in the cab as they hauled whatever trains needed pulling. The other engines teased him about it. Presently, the duckling grew tired of riding and was let off at Mayohiga station and there she stayed.

That night, Hachirou's crew played a trick back at Ahiru, they got together a box and some straw and the driver and the firewoman got busy. The following morning, when Ahiru's driver and firewoman looked him over. They laughed and laughed.

"Ahiru! Look what's under your bunker! There's a nest with an egg in it!." called out his driver.

Hachirou opened a sleepy eye, "Well, well, well. You must have laid it in the night, Ahiru. All unbeknownst!"

Then Ahiru laughed, "You win Hachirou. It'd take a clever engine to get the better of you."

There was a pond close to the Mayohiga station, where the duckling swam and welcomed the engines as they pass by. The stationmaster calls her Aimi, but to everybody else it will always be known as Hachirou's duck.


	3. Spirited Away

Shiro was talking to Daichi, when Hachirou passed by.

"Why don't you stop talking and do some work." he said.

"Who's that?" asked Daichi.

"Oh that's Hachirou, he works the Mayohiga extension of our mainline." replied Shiro.

The next time the two engines met was at the Human Village station.

"You know, Daichi has some things in common with you." said Shiro.

"What would that be?" asked Hachirou.

Shiro looked thoughtfully for a few seconds, only to look back at Hachirou and said "I don't know. I only wanted to make conversation. You know he almost was scrapped."

"Scrap?!" said Hachirou.

"Yes. But I and Byakuren Hijiri stepped in and saved him." said Shiro.

Just then, Yukari Yakumo walked by the engines.

"Yukari? What are you doing here?" asked Shiro.

"I'm just looking for space." she answered.

"But don't your gaps have enough space?" asked Hachirou, playfully.

"Yes. I mean, my gaps have plenty of space, its just me and Nitori are going outside of Gensokyo tonight to look for commodities to take."

Yukari Yakumo's part in helping the railway was to spirit away any trucks full of things that Gensokyo can't produce by itself or doesn't produce enough. Things like iron ore, coal, silicon, and even some machinery the kappas themselves can't produce. Tonight's goal was to look around a new place to take things from, this time, a marshaling yard in western Japan.

Yukari left abruptly after locating a few empty sidings. That night, Yukari and Nitori looked around the yard in marshaling yard. The air was still and the distant sound of electric engines working the night trains could be heard.

"How much diesel we have?" asked Yukari, looking at a tanker.

"Plenty." replied Nitori.

Yukari and Nitori were checking out a siding filled with vans with merchandise goods they were something.

"Did you hear that?" said Yukari.

"Hear what?" replied Nitori.

The sound came again. This time, Nitori recognized it.

"That sounds like a steam engine." she said.

The two walked towards the source of the sound. The light wheezing of a standing steam engine became louder until the two found a JGR Class 860 in a shed, the engine looked tired and afraid, the engine also had splotches on its boiler and water tanks were paint used to be.

"Who are you?" said the engine.

"We're from Gensokyo Railway." replied Nitori.

"Where's that?" the engine asked again.

"You'll find out soon enough." answered Yukari.

"Why are you here?" questioned Nitori.

"I'm escaping being scrapped." replied the engine.

Nitori walked into the shed and found that the engine had a coach and a brake van with him. She then climbed into the cab, calling for Yukari.

"Why are you obsessing with this engine?" asked Yukari.

"Even with Maybach built, we still need another engine." replied Nitori, "C'mon, I have a plan."

So Nitori and Yukari found some chalk and paint and scribbled the word 'Scrap' in Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. When she was asked by Yukari and the engine respectfully, she said she saw this in a book written by a westerner and that the plan will work.

Nitori and Yukari got in the cab.

"How about I drive and you keep the fire going." said Nitori.

"Fine." said Yukari, she didn't expect to be a firewoman.

"Wait? What are you doing?" said the engine.

"We're saving you from scrap!" replied Nitori.

"I'm spiriting you away!" called out Yukari.

The engine knew stories of people disappearing, but he never thought that he himself would be subject to them. The engine was soon going through the yard. They passed by a JNR Class EF66, the electric engine yelled at the steam engine as he passed by.

"Hey! You! Stop! Someone, this engine is escaping!" said the EF66.

Yukari and Nitori gave no mind, the engine was too busy coming to terms that he may never see his crew ever again.

"So. What's your name?" asked Nitori.

"I'm Akira. My brake van name is Kero, and my coach's name is Aki." said the engine, introducing himself and those running away with him.

"We used to work on a line, but it sold of its engines for scrap. The preservationists here don't have the money to buy me, so my driver and fireman drove us across Honshu, friendly signalmen would let us by."

"What if the signalmen weren't friendly?" asked Yukari, curiously.

"My driver is good with tools and can usually get what he wants." said Akira, and he continued, "Thanks to the computerized signals in this part of the country. Control got word of a mystery train and warned the engines in JR West, JR East, and JR Freight to look out and find us. One time, we had to hide out on an abandoned branchline until the evening. We were so afraid of being found, I mean we had a few close calls."

"I see." said Nitori.

Soon, they were stopped at a station, a guard walked out.

"What is this engine doing here!" the guard demanded.

"This engine is for scrap, see it for yourself." said Nitori.

The guard inspected the engine, the coach, and the brake van.

"I see you got one old passenger coach, and a JNR 29500 goods brake van. Where are your papers?" asked the guard.

"Shit!" thought Nitori.

"Papers please? The ones that prove your sending this one for scrap!" demanded the guard.

"I got your papers." said Yukari.

Yukari got out of the cab and walked up to the guard. The guard held out his hand, only for Yukari, using her strong youkai strength. Punched the guard hard into his stomach, her hand entering the body and she pulled it out. The guard screamed before falling down onto the platform, bleeding profusely out of his fist sized hole in his chest. The glove that covered one of Yukari's hands had become bright red. Nitori tried her best to think of something else and Akira was horrified.

"Quick. We need to get to a place so I can gap away Akira." said Yukari.

"Right." said Nitori, trying to hold in the contents of her stomach.

Akira, his train, and his newfound crew finally got to a small line. Yukari created a gap and Akira went through it. Akira closed his eyes and did not see the purple sky with the eyes starring down at him. When he did open his eyes, he noticed he was now on a different railway.

"There's the works." said Nitori to Akira, "I'll have someone to fix you and your friends up."

"Where are we?" asked Akira.

"Gensokyo." said Yukari.

Akira now knew he was spirited away.

That morning, the Scarlet Controller arrived at the sheds.

"Sir? With the new branchline? Who will help out?" asked Kiyoshi.

"I don't know. Nitori hasn't talked to me about building a new engine, and Rika is busy with another project. Plus, steam engines are hard to find in workable condition outside of here." she said.

"But...but...Then what will we do?" asked Kiyoshi.

"Well, from what I heard from Yukari, last night. We do have a new engine. Thanks to her and Nitori, we now have some help with running the railway."

Akira was painted the same livery as Ahiru and his coach and brake van have been mended. The two engines work the branchline between Kourindou and Mayohiga. The other engines joke about the line being the 'Little Western', but the nickname stuck and Ahiru and Akira would like it the same way.


	4. Resource and Sagacity

Akira is the newest addition to the Gensokyo Railway. He pulls trains with his brake van Kero and pulls passenger trains with his coach Aki, which the Scarlet Controller procured another another coach named Aoi.

"I'm grateful that Yukari and Nitori saved me from a terrible fate." said Akira to Ahiru one day, "But I do miss my old driver and fireman."

"Oh cheer up Akira. I mean, at least your back to work." replied Ahiru.

"I guess so."

Akira was in the sheds and told the other engines that he was saved from scrap.

"You must be quite the brave engine to have survived such a fate." said Hachirou.

"And so honorable too." piped in Kenta.

"You have resource and sagacity!" finished Hiroto.

The next day, Akira told Ahiru what the other engines had to him.

"You may be good gracious Akira, but you musn't let this go to your smokebox." said Ahiru.

"Oh I won't."

But it did, Akira had never been praised by big engines before and he enjoyed the complements too much. He was pulling a train with his two coaches, Aki and Aoi and sang to them.

"Oh Aki's a funny coach and so is Aoi too. If I didn't look after them I'd don't know what to do!"

"Listen to him! Just listen to him!" twittered Aoi.

"He's proud, he's concieted, he's heading for trouble!" replied Aki sadly, "I can feel it in my frames."

Once Akira was done with his train, he was to shunt in the yard at Mayohiga. The goods yard at Mayohiga was made larger to handle the more work going to Kourindou, as well as the ballast imported from Sodor.

The ballast trucks were rolling stock brought to Gensokyo from Sodor, along with the ballast. They were regauged and were put to work, they were the only sentient trucks on the railway and as such were the most misbehaved. Ichihiro had taught Ahiru and the other engines how to handle such troublesome trucks as he got the experience from working during his time at Sodor. But Akira didn't know about the trucks being sentient. He was told to shunt the ballast trucks into place.

"Just be careful with those trucks." said the stationmaster.

"Oh, I will. If I can survive being scraped, I can sure arrange some trucks." replied Akira, completely full of himself.

He gave the ballast trucks a great big bump and slammed them into place.

"He's smashing us!" said one truck.

"He's trying to boss us!" said another truck.

"Let's show him!" said a third.

The trucks bumped Akira back.

"Hey! Watch it!" Akira yelled at the trucks.

"That's it, lads! Push that jap!" said a truck.

The trucks pushed forward and Akira surged backwards, all the while chanting "Push the jap! Push the jap! Push the jap!".

"No! No! Stop!" said Akira.

The Sudrian trucks giggled as they pushed Akira down the line. His driver applied the brakes, and they slowed down.

"Great! We're stopping them!" said Akira, glad that he could stop the trucks.

But he wasn't so lucky, the trucks were still pushing forward, though not as fast. Akira didn't see that crossed several points and was heading straight for the turntable.

"Do something!" yelled the firewoman.

"I'm trying my damn hardest!" replied the driver.

Hachirou had just finished using the turntable and was getting off, when he saw Akira heading for the turntable.

"Akira! Stop! Your going to hit the turntable!" cried out Hachirou.

"I'm stopping! I'm stopping!"

But it was too late, before Akira could prove that he had the train under control, he fell bunker first into the turntable.

"That was my turntable!" yelled Hachirou.

Akira said nothing, he just stayed leaning upward. It was evening when a brakedown train arrived. The Scarlet Controller watched the operation.

"You didn't admit to being inexperienced with our imported trucks. See what you did? Now Hachirou has to go tender first to the Human Village until the turntable has been fixed!" she said pointedly.

"I'm sorry." Akira said.

"Good! Your being sent to the works to get mended and then your going to learn how to shunt these difficult trucks."

Akira learned to be more careful with the trucks from Sodor, he was mended placed back into service. But he wasn't conceited anymore.


	5. Kero Stands By

Akira is back from the works is back to working the yard at Mayohiga. The ballast trucks have been more badly behaved than before, their ringleader, D. O Nald, sang a chorus with the rest of the trucks as Akira pulled in.

"Akira's no use at all! He's thinks he's very clever, that's the best joke ever! He order's us about with the greatest folly, when he does we'll push him down the well! Pop goes Akira!"

"Shut up!" said Ahiru.

The ballast truck still proved to be bothersome, when there's no one to shut them up and Akira's in the yard they sang again. At last the engines had enough!

"Sorry, the ballast trucks are behaving so poorly." said Kiyoshi.

"No, no. Its my fault really. Sorry to have caused this." replied Akira.

Kero, the brake van, felt sorry too. Next morning, he spoke to Hachirou.

"I'm worried Hachirou-sama, this disrespect for engines? When's it going to end?"

"Who knows?" sighed Hachirou.

"I have a plan, Hachirou-sama, can you let me stay in the yard and I'll help Akira in the yard. We're both JR Western and we must stand together."

"Sure." replied Hachirou.

Kero told his plan to Akira and Ahiru later that day.

"Good gods Kero! I don't think you should suggest such a thing." said Ahiru.

"It was my fault this happened, and I'm going to set things right." replied Akira.

"But that plans sounds like it might be trouble." warned Ahiru.

"I'm doing ahead with Kero's plan anyway Ahiru, regardless of what will happen. Scarlet Controller or not."

With that, Akira set off to execute Kero's plan. Akira shunted the worst trucks two by two.

"If you do it like that, Akira-sama. Leave D. O. Nald to be the first truck in the line." instructed Kero.

D. O. Nald was making plans with the other trucks,"We will hold back And make the engines pay for it!" he said.

"Not for long." thought Akira as he shunted D. O. Nald to the front of the train.

"Lock him up!" said D. O. Nald to the other trucks he passed by as Akira put him in place.

"We are going to make being a truck great again!" said D. O. Nald, riling up the trucks.

"Remember the sand, Akira-sama." said Kero.

"Right." replied Akira.

"Hold back! Hold back!" commanded D. O. Nald.

"Now's my chance." thought Akira.

Akira began pulling forward, his wheels gripped the sand. The trucks held back, just as Kero predicted.

"Grrrr..." grunted Akira.

The sentient ballast trucks giggled and repeated things that D. O. Nald had said.

"Build a wall from the wreck! Twenty feet tall!" they said.

But as Akira pulled harder and harder, D. O. Nald began to feel unsure of his plan. Creaking sounds came from his frames.

"Stop!" he yelled.

D. O. Nald's wood paneling started to crack, the noise coming from his body was second loudest to Akira's wheels slipping and gripping the sand.

"I'm coming apart!" D. O. Nald screamed.

But before the trucks could realize what they were doing, D. O. Nald was ripped apart. His wood panels collasped, his frames snapped, his buffer beams disintegrated, the only thing that managed to stay intact was his axles. The trucks stopped holding back, aghast that their ringleader was killed. This made Ahiru and Kero happy. Akira was out of breath and he nearly shot across the yard once D. O. Nald ripped apart.

The Scarlet Controller came to the yard to see what had happened. Ahiru wasn't sure what she was going to say. But Akira was more mentally prepared for what she'll say. Right now, she was busy looking at D. O. Nald's remains.

"Just as Nitori told me about this truck. Rusty frames, rotten wood, nasty attitude. I'd think it be American. Will someone just pick up this mess, this truck's state is so bad, just scrap it." said the Scarlet Controller.

She turned her attention to Akira, "You don't know your strength? Is that it?"

"The trucks were behaving terribly and something had to be done." explained Akira.

"Right...Just have this mess cleared up."

From that day onward, Akira doesn't like taking goods trains, especially ones with the sentient trucks, but pulls them when he is told too. When he does pull trains with the sentient trucks they know better to warn each other that if they start trouble with Akira, he'll pull them to pieces. As for D. O. Nald? He was never repaired, his metal parts were melted down and his rotten wood body burned, he doesn't exist anymore.


End file.
